Rank insignia
Rank insignia were generally used by cultures that wear uniforms. In humanoids, rank can be displayed by stripes (such as braid) on the sleeves or epaulet, or in the form of pins (like pips and lozenges), embroidered insignia, and patches. These of course differ between civilizations. Lists of rank insignia * Cardassian ranks ** Cardassian uniforms * Bajoran ranks ** Bajoran Militia uniforms * Ferengi uniforms * Klingon ranks ** Klingon Defense Force uniforms * MACO ranks ** MACO uniform and equipment * Romulan ranks ** Romulan uniforms * Starfleet ranks ** Starfleet uniforms * Terran Empire ranks ** Terran Empire uniforms * Vulcan ranks ** Vulcan uniforms Types Braid or stripes braid to everyone. You love it, don't you.|Kirk' and Robert Crater|2266|The Man Trap}} Braid (or stripes) were bands of fabric or metallic material designed to denote rank on a uniform. Officers of Earth's United States Navy wore rank stripes on sleeves and epaulets. That system was similar to insignia used in some eras of Starfleet history. ( ; ) The Earth Starfleet of the 22nd century used rank stripes on dress uniforms for officers and on the standard jackets of flag officers. The mirror universe's Terran Starfleet used stripes on the standard uniform epaulets for officers, and both the epaulets and sleeves for flag officers. In the 2250s, Starfleet used stripes of braid for both officers and non-commissioned officers, on the sleeves of standard uniforms and on the epaulets of dress uniforms. By the 2260s, only officers above ensign wore sleeve rank stripes, and only on standard uniforms. The 2260s dress uniforms denoted rank by braid around the collar, again only for officers. In the 2270s, all officers wore rank stripes, either on the sleeves or epaulet, depending on the uniform. Chevron and rocker Chevrons and rockers were stripe insignia that were used in many of Earth's land, air, and naval forces to denote enlisted rank. Epaulette Epaulettes were devices worn on the shoulder, quite frequently to denote rank or grade, or perhaps honor. Lozenge The lozenge was what was commonly referred to as a diamond. It was found in a deck of playing cards, and in the rank of a first sergeant. Pip Pips were the small metal pins worn to denote rank, particularly on 23rd and 24th century Starfleet uniforms. ( , ; ; ) Star Stars, in the vernacular of rank insignia, were insignia, often used to denote flag officers. The United States armed forces used groups of these insignia for generals and admirals. A similar approach was used by Starfleet, as flag officer epaulet insignia in the 2270s. ( ) refers to TNG-era flag ranks with the term "star", even though the insignia used are pips in a frame. It lists one- and two-star admiral, three-star admiral, four-star admiral, and five-star admiral as the meanings of various rank insignia, but the one- and five-star versions are never seen on screen.}} The US Navy also used stars in conjunction with chevrons in their enlisted insignia, as opposed to the rockers used with chevrons in equivalent US armed forces. See also *Assignment patch *Uniform External link * de:Rangabzeichen Category:Clothing accessories Category:Symbols